Marion County primary features contested bids for sheriff, clerk

Marion County Sheriff John Layton is seeking a second term but faces a Democratic primary challenge from another career lawman in Tuesday's election.

The sheriff's position is one of the two contested countywide offices. The other is for the clerk's job, in which two Republicans are vying for the seat vacated by Beth White, who was forced aside by term limits and is running for Indiana secretary of state.

Layton is being challenged by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department veteran Mark Brown, who has 26 years of experience and is a sergeant in the human relations department. Brown said his priority, if elected, would be to improve relations between the Sheriff's Office and IMPD.

"John has spent much of his time arguing with IMPD and the mayor," said Brown, who has worked in the domestic violence unit and as a detective. "A good working relationship with other agencies is the most important thing a sheriff can bring to the job."

While Layton has sparred at times with Republican Mayor Greg Ballard over budget matters and the law enforcement reach of the sheriff, he said communication with IMPD has always been good and is one of the strengths of his office.

"We have done a great deal to augment the services provided by IMPD," Layton said, "from the coordination of the jail wagons, which we run, to maintaining the sex offender registry, to backing them up on calls if they need it."

The sheriff, with an annual budget of $100 million and 1,500 employees, is responsible for maintaining the county jail, the courts and security at the City-County Building. Deputies also serve arrest warrants and control the sex offender registry.

Layton said he has professionalized the department, getting accreditation in several areas, and reduced the number of lawsuits pending against the sheriff from about 40 when he took office in 2010 to about 19 today.

Layton began his law enforcement career with the Sheriff's Office in 1974 and said he is on track to become the National Sheriffs' Association president by 2018. "That would bring a lot of prestige to Marion County," he said.

Brown ran for sheriff against Layton in the last election and received 38 percent of the vote. Layton promises to be even a more formidable opponent this time — he has a campaign war chest of $333,000 compared with $10,500 for Brown.

Waiting for the winner in the general election will be Republican Emmitt Carney, a former agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with 31 years in law enforcement.

Carney, who was a Kentucky State Trooper for six years, also said he would work to improve the sheriff's cooperation with other police agencies.

"I've learned that to do a professional job, everyone had to get along," Carney said.

Layton dismissed the criticism, chalking it up to naiveté.

"When you lack maturity all you can do is bad-mouth others," he said. "When you lack the experience, you twist everything."

For the clerk's office, Jocelyn-Tandy Adande is running as a Republican against the slated candidate, Christine Bischoff, a board member in Franklin Township.

Democrat Myla Elridge, who worked a director of elections for the Marion County Election Board under White, is running unopposed on the Democratic side.

Adande has run for various offices over 35 years, including mayor, City-County Council and Congress. She said she has learned in that time the importance of each vote, and as clerk, she would increase absentee voting and put satellite voting in every township.

"People work two jobs. They are busy. We should make it easy to vote," said Adande, 65, a former Democrat who describes herself as a grass-roots organizer and political strategist. "I would take the politics out of voting. I will work for the people — I always have, and my resume and background reflect that."

Bischoff is a Marine Corps veteran, mother of three and a freelance IT professional.

She said her computer skills will be useful in the clerk's office.

"As a data analyst, I will have a good understanding of how data flows in the superior courts and the election process and can use those skills to improve it and find ways to make it easier to vote," Bischoff said.

She said she views public service as a patriotic calling, much like the armed services, and said she looks forward to the hands-on activity of running elections, the bedrock of government.

"I want to build relationships in the neighborhoods with the people who will have the responsibility of running the elections," she said. "It will be exciting to have that opportunity."

In the prosecutor's race, Democrat Terry Curry is running unopposed, as is the Republican-endorsed candidate, Indianapolis attorney Duane Merchant, who worked for 20 years in the county prosecutor's office.

County Recorder Julie Voorhies, a Democrat, is running unopposed for county auditor. Her opponent in the general election will be Republican Tracy McCarty, also running unopposed.